Exercising In The Cold - Embrace The Chill Factor

Exercising In The Cold - Embrace The Chill Factor When winter hits, getting out of bed to exercise isn’t particularly appealing for most of us. Winter also heralds an increase in colds and flu. So why would you want to keep exercising in the cold, and what’s the best way to prepare for it? Here are a few reasons why you need to keep moving and the best tips to keep you on track. Why you need to move even when it’s cold Preparing For Summer You might have summer training goals or simply want to maintain all the work you have done in the previous summer. While aiming for a ‘beach body’ shouldn’t be a main goal – it should always be in pursuit of good health and a balanced lifestyle – cramming your training for summer in the month or two preceding can significantly overload the body. Do consider having a month where you train less to allow your body to recover from 6 months of competition or diligently completed training, but then gradually return to your normal activity levels. You Can Burn More Energ To keep your body warm in the lower temperatures, your basal metabolism increases slightly. Most of this energy goes towards rewarming exposed skin and warming the air in the lungs. Take advantage of this by exercising in winter to expend more energy than you would in the summer.

Keep Up The Vitamin D Staying indoors removes us from the largest source of vitamin D – the sun. Vitamin D is needed to manage calcium, which has flow-on effects on our bones, muscles and overall health. During the winter months, staying indoors and thick cloud cover reduce the amount of sunlight that contributes to vitamin D production. If you can, get active in the middle of the day with some skin exposed. The Usual Benefits Of Exercise We go on about it a lot, but exercise is just plain good for you. The benefits keep coming even in winter, and the rule ‘use it or lose it’ still applies. Look after yourself and keep moving.